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BLOGGER BIO: DR. SHAMIRA

Dr. Shamira
Dr. Shamira is the founder of Art of Wellness. With a special interest in women’s health, she inspires women to achieve optimum health - body, mind and spirit - through integrated, natural healthcare and by combining the disciplines of chiropractic, traditional acupuncture and clinical nutrition.

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November 2011

November 30, 2011

As part 2 to my post 'Squash 101', I wanted introduce the Wellness Works! readers to the world of Spaghetti Sqaush! Specifically, how to cook and use it as a pasta! Its a wonderful, vitamin-rich alternative to regular pasta and is loaded with beta-carotene and fiber. It can be used not only in italian dishes but also as a substitute for noodles in asian dishes!

Here is a fast-easy way to cook a spaghetti squash (approx 3lbs):

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Halve the squash lengthwise. Use a spoon to scoop out and discard seeds from the middle of each half.

Arrange squash in a 9- x 13-inch casserole dish, cut sides down. Pour 1/2 cup water into the dish and bake until just tender, 30 to 35 minutes.

Its that easy! Once removed from the oven, use a fork to rake back and forth across the squash to remove its flesh in strands and voila - Pasta!

Let us know if you try it and how it turns out! Leave a comment below!

November 09, 2011

Hello readers! Today I was going to continue my blog from last day but instead, I'm going to make this blog post a little more personal. Sure I love to blog about great healthy recipes, new information on health & wellness and things of that nature, but every so often, I get inspired when something happens to me that shifts the way I am thinking - and I immediately think of sharing it with my readers! Because like I've said before, wellness and health is not just physical - not at all. Its emotional. Mental. Much more than just being 'disease-free'. That's my definition (and the World Health Organization's definition too!).

That being said, today I was fortunate enough to attend my favourite spin class here in NYC - TranscendCycle with Darryl Gaines at Equinox. I've taken his class once before and it was so uplifting and motivating - I had to do it again! So here I am, doing my thing when he starts playing Mary J. Blige's song, "Just Fine". And as the lyrics were playing and we were cycling to the beat, I felt almost trance-like. Everything slowed down and became clear. As if the lyrics were speaking to ME. And in that moment, I had an 'A-ha!'.

When she says in her lyrics 'So I like what I see when I’m looking at me when I’m walking past the mirror...', I looked at myself in the mirror and, though this may sound completely silly, I agreed. I really believed and agreed.

While I'm not the skinniest, fittest, prettiest or most 'put-together' woman (especially in NYC let me tell you!), I realized - that's just fine. And that sent such a peace through me. Because as women, we can't help but judge ourselves. We often will, often unconsciously, pin ourselves up and compare ourselves to the woman walking down the street, the girl next to you in yoga class or your colleague down the hall. But here's the rub: someone will ALWAYS be better at a. b. or c. than you. And for me, in that moment (and going forward), I realized in my core, that that's just fine. I don't have to be 'perfect' (please someone tell me if they have figured out what that even means!).

Liking yourself - who you are, what you look like is beyond any nutrition, fitness or health-promoting lifestyle practice because if you don't like what you see in the mirror, the benefits of those practices are futile. Feeling whole, centered and at peace is where health begins. Where wellness begins. And for me, though I can't say I ever 'disliked' what I see in the mirror - I am a critic just like everyone else.

So I hope that you'll take a moment here and listen to the song (yes, I am posting a music video in a wellness blog!) and really think about the lyrics and what it means to be happy with WHO you are and moreover, realize that no matter what troubles you may have, if we are grateful for all things - small and big - then Life really is Just Fine.